Wicked
by Kairyn Deliae
Summary: A look at how Kyd Wykkyd would have been if he was in the Young Justice Universe. Only hinted pairings and mentions of abuse.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: **This came from having a bit of a marathon Teen Titans/Young Justice evening. They never really expanded on Kyd Wykkyd's character in TT and, I believe that they made him up specifically for TT. He seemed to be modeled a little off of Klarion but he's nowhere near that same amount of threat. So I decided to expand on the character myself within the Young Justice universe. Though because he's essentially mostly my own creation with as little as I had to work with I'm not calling this a crossover fic. If anything it's an OC fic. Starts at the episode Denial.

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| **New Orleans**

| **July 27, 21:57 CDT**

In a dark alleyway, near a magic shop called Madam Zanadu's, there was a single shadow that didn't seem to quite fit with the rest of the shadows. Pale grey eyes, hidden behind red lenses, watched the stream of people as they walked past. As an older man perfectly combed grey hair walked nearer, those grey eyes instantly focused on him. He was wearing a very proper suit with a black tie and carried a walking stick. The old man stopped in front of the magic shop and checked a watch from his pocket briefly before walking into the shop.

The one in the shadows let out a low sigh before suddenly disappearing entirely. The shadow reappeared a distance away on top of a roof. No longer in the shadows, the spy was easier seen. He was a short thing with a grey shirt that melted was tucked under a silver belt and beneath black gloves. He also wore black pants and shoes along with a black cape that was held together over his collarbone by a silver medallion with an unfamiliar symbol etched in the front. A cowl with dramatic flared edges kept his hair from view and a full-face mask with no mouth hid all his features entirely.

He only had a moment before the man that he had joined turned his head slightly. The man was tanned with a black ponytail. "Well?" he asked in a low voice. "Did you find him, Kyd?" he demanded.

The boy, who had been in the shadows of the alley, nodded and shifted his stance to point behind him. The man with the ponytail gave an annoyed sigh. "Where then? Speak up already!"

The boy lowered his hand slowly and tilted his head to the side, seemingly contemplating that. After a moment, he raised his hand and black fire exploded from his fingertips. The flames twisted and writhed until they formed the words Madam Zanadu's and then disappeared. The ponytailed man grunted and disappeared, leaving the silent boy standing there alone. The boy sighed slightly behind his mask and then disappeared as well. Kyd knew the man could handle things so he would leave it be. He had other things that he was supposed to handle anyway. If his Master got wind that he was not doing what he was supposed to then he would curse him into next month. It was not something Kyd would be interested in experiencing. He'd been cursed enough in the past.

It took quite a number of teleportations to reach where they had set up their base of operations. He could not yet teleport very far distances. When he did get there he had been beaten there by Abra Kadabra and his captive. Kent Nelson. Nelson was already tied up in a chair in the middle of the stage though Kyd noticed that he didn't have the cane that he'd had before. That was odd but he decided that it wasn't worth worrying about. Abra wouldn't have been foolish enough to leave something significant behind.

"Keep an eye on him," Klarion said. "When he wakes up tell us," he added before he and Abra Kadabra left to go try, yet again, to find the tower they were trying to break into.

Kyd nodded and sat down in front of the bound and unconscious man. Kyd closed his eyes and focused on the book that he was learning from, summoning it in front of him. He felt the heaviness of it on his lap and reopened his eyes. He flipped it open and began to read through the ancient symbols, trying to make sense of them from what little he'd actually been taught by his Master.

It took hours for Nelson to wake up. The moment he did, his eyes settled on the masked teen in front of him. "And you are?"

Kyd looked up in surprise, having been far too concerned with trying to study than keeping an eye on the captive. "Well?" Nelson asked. "I don't recognize you from the usual dark sorcerers that have tried to get me in the past."

Kyd held up a hand. Dark fire sprouted from his fingertips and twisted together again. "The call me Kyd Wykkyd."

"Kyd Wykkyd, huh? Well, Kyd. I don't know what you want with an old hat like me but you won't get it," Nelson said.

Kyd shook his head. Kyd didn't want anything; it was his Master that wanted something. Something far more powerful than Kyd would have been able to use or even hope to control. "Don't you talk, Kyd?" Nelson asked. Kyd shook his head. He'd lost that right after questioning his Master one too many times. Nelson hummed some but didn't say anything else.

Kyd got to his feet and raised his hand. He sent a stream of fire into the air above his hand that formed a ring. "What is it?" his Master demanded a moment later as his picture appeared in the middle of the ring. Kyd turned his hand enough so that his Master could see that Nelson was awake. His Master grinned widely. "Excellent!"

Nelson narrowed his eyes. "Klarion."

| **Salem**

| **August 19, 20:22 EDT**

Kyd Wykkyd was sitting in the center of a ring of black candles in the basement of a theater that had been abandoned ages ago. They had been hanging about in the theater for a month now and they were still no closer to what they were trying to achieve than they were before. His Master was growing agitated and that was never a good thing. Suddenly, through the open window, a cat with strange red eyes and thick brown stripes entered. Kyd's attention instantly turned from what he'd been studying to the cat. He was supposed to be outside for a reason. The fact that he wasn't was worrisome.

The cat sauntered through the basement as if he owned it and only paused for a moment to hiss at Kyd, who decided it was best to not react. Doing so would get him in trouble with his Master. The damn cat was the only thing his Master actually cared about in this world. Kyd turned his attention behind him to the door that led upstairs; he was supposed to be down here studying and out of the way. But the cat wanted something, as was obvious by how he was glaring at the teen.

With a sigh from knowing he couldn't escape the situation, the teen got to his feet and silently up the stairs. The cat followed him up the stairs to the stage where his Master was. They were still trying to get information out of Nelson and it was more than a little frustrating.

"Grant us entrance to the Tower and I promise I will grant an end to your suffering."

Kyd was quickly passed by the cat who went straight to his Master. Kyd pushed down his feeling of annoyance at the familiar. He knew better than to show his Master that he immensely hated that cat. "Continue to refuse and…" he broke off as he electrocuted Nelson yet again. Nelson cried out in pain but it wasn't something that Kyd hadn't heard before.

The cat jumped onto another young man's lap though this one was wearing a suit and laughing at Nelson's pain. He petted the cat who began to purr. "Shush, Teekl!" he said as the cat began to meow for attention. "I'm watching the show."

Nelson was panting where he was tied to a chair in the center of the stage. Kyd showed nothing as Nelson's eyes darted over to him before going back to the man that was torturing him. "Enjoy it… while you can…" Nelson said. "Soon enough… my friends… will come to help me-" He was cut off as he was electrocuted by the wand in Abra Kadabra's hand.

Teekl hissed and jumped off of his Master's lap as Klarion stood up and began clapping. "Encore, encore!" Teekl, however, was done with being ignored. He began yowling and hissing from where he was on the ground. "What?" Klarion demanded, turning to the cat. Teekl yowled again and his eyes began to glow. After a moment Klarion looked up slightly. "Oooh…"

"Bring Nelson!" Klarion ordered.

Abra raised an eyebrow but reached down to do as Klarion said. It was best to not get on his bad side after all. Klarion turned to look at Kyd even as Teekl jumped back up to be carried. "Don't do anything stupid. I want that helmet and if you mess it up I'll be very unhappy…" he nearly growled.

Kyd took a slight step back but nodded. His Master seemed content at that, for now, and started down the aisle way. Kyd stared after him for a moment before Abra came past with a bound Nelson being pushed in front of him. Kyd followed slightly to the left of them to ensure that Nelson couldn't escape.

The group of them used Abra Kadabra's wand to look at what was going on outside, though nobody would be able to see them spying. On the other side of the wall, they could see several teens standing around. The teens were talking about technology or something like that. Kyd was paying them little attention, far more intent on not crossing his Master's nonexistent fuse. His Master turned some to look back at them. "Hey, Abra Kadabra, aren't_ you _using adaptive micro electronics and phase shifting?"

Abra Kadabra looked off to the side. "Yes."

Kyd glanced up at Abra Kadabra for a moment before turning his attention back to the teens that hadn't yet noticed them. There was a green girl with red hair, a blonde with tanned skin, a red headed boy, a well built black haired boy wearing a black superman t-shirt, and a black boy with blonde hair. Kyd tilted his head slightly. Who were they supposed to be exactly?

The black boy suddenly pulled out a key, murmuring something about a test of faith. He told the others to stand back as he walked forward to insert the key into nothingness. So they had the key then. Kyd supposed that was good. They had searched Nelson over quite thoroughly and had been more than annoyed when they hadn't found it on him.

The tower appeared once the boy turned the key and Kyd glanced up at it. It certainly was tall though not as ornate as Kyd had anticipated. Not by a long shot. The black boy pushed the door open and the group of teens walked in without an ounce of caution. The door slammed shut behind them.

After several minutes where nothing happened, the group of three dark sorcerers and Nelson teleported in front of the newly revealed tower. Abra Kadabra pushed Nelson forward. The door glowed with the Ankh, the symbol of Doctor Fate, and of Nabu. The door opened instantly. Apparently, Kyd's Master had been right that they wouldn't need the key after all. They entered the tower, though there was no sign of the teens that had entered before them.

"The tower might not appreciate trespassers," Nelson warned, looking his over shoulder at the three kidnappers.

Abra raised his wand. "Mute." A collar instantly clamped around Nelson's neck, causing the old man to let out a strangled noise. Then Abra pushed the man forward. With Nelson leading the way, the tower put up no resistance to open walls and doors for the group to walk through.

They appeared in a nicely furnished living room with a fireplace that was already burning merrily. Then an image of Nelson appeared in front of them. "Hello Nelson. How unlike you to bring guests to the tower. Especially one with such potent mystic power."

Klarion turned to look at Kyd who nodded some in understanding. He stepped forward and put his hand over Nelson's mouth. He then put his own gloved hand where his own mouth would be on the mask but wasn't. He lowered his hands and turned to the image. "My friends come to help me," Kyd said in Nelson's voice.

The image of Nelson smiled and disappeared as another wall opened up to reveal stairs and far too much space for the inside of a tower. They entered the opening without hesitation and the wall closed behind them.

They started walking. Unfortunately, the stairs never seemed to end. Even turning over and taking impossible changes in direction. Yet they kept walking. That didn't keep Klarion from growing bored however. "Are we there yet? Are we there yet? Are we there yet?"

Abra also quickly got fed up. He put a hand on Nelson's shoulder and made him stop. "Tell us how to find the helmet!" However he seemed to forget that Nelson couldn't talk with the collar on. After a moment, he reached over and ripped it off to fling it behind him. Both Abra Kadabra and Klarion were entirely too impatient.

"Can't. Having too much fun," Nelson replied with a smirk.

Abra grit his teeth in annoyance and charged his wand before smacking it into Nelson's shoulder. The old man went flying backwards and hit the ground hard. "Still having fun?" Abra demanded.

"Heh heh, I am!" Klarion said. "Zap him again! Or dump him off the side and watch him splat!" Abra obliged, zapping Nelson again with his wand. Kyd looked off to the side, not nearly as amused with torture as his Master was. Teekl gave a soft noise in his Master's ear and the suited wizard sighed. "Yes, yes… I suppose we might still need him…" he grumbled.

Suddenly, two of the teens appeared on a platform behind them with the cane that Nelson had possessed in New Orleans. "Abra Kadabra!" the red headed boy clearly recognized the sorcerer.

"Well, would you look at that," Nelson said, seemingly amused. Both him and the cane began to glow before Nelson shot up towards the teens, knocking his three kidnappers to the side. Nelson landed on the platform with the teens and grabbed the cane, his hands becoming untied instantly. "In here!" he said before forming a door in the wall beside them.

"No, no, no!" Klarion said as he raised his arms. "I want that helmet! I want it, I want it, I want it!" he screamed before firing off red energy at them. It only hit the door unfortunately. He growled and whipped around to face the Kyd. "After them!" he screeched.

Kyd nodded and flickered before he disappeared entirely. It took some effort to teleport himself after them. They were moving and Kyd's teleportation was somewhat tricky to control properly. He finally caught up to them a few minutes later in a room with a large bell. Kyd wasted no time in throwing his hands out and unleashing several whips of dark energy, intent on grabbing Nelson again.

Nelson, however, noticed and whipped around to throw up a shield. "Kyd Wykkyd. I see you're doing Klarion's dirty work again," Nelson said.

Kyd narrowed his eyes behind his red lenses. "Who's that?" the blonde asked.

"An unfortunate boy," Nelson replied. Kyd jerked some and quickly teleported up higher to land on another platform and sent a blast of energy from a new angle. Nelson used his cane to redirect it entirely where it slammed into a set of stairs. "Klarion's only taught you the basics, Kyd. And he hasn't even done that well."

Before Kyd could launch another attack, a door opened in the middle of nowhere and the other three teens fell to the ground by Nelson and his rescuers. "Friends of yours?" Nelson asked just before Abra Kadabra's own energy came from behind them.

The redhead and Nelson dodged the energy and looked up to where Klarion and Abra were standing. "Friend's of yours?" the redhead asked back, before ushering the old man off to the side to the bell.

Abra launched another beam of energy as Kyd waved his hand in a circle to unleash a stream of black fire at the teens. They all quickly jumped out of the way just as Nelson hit the bell with his cane. It began to glow and Klarion raced forward. "Get it get it get it!" he shouted. Kyd abandoned the fight with the teens and teleported over to the bell. Unfortunately, he appeared only after the bell had stopped glowing. Nelson, the redhead, and apparently his Master, were the only ones who managed to get into it in time.

Kyd turned around and saw that the teens and Abra were fighting. However, Abra seemed to be handling it well enough. Kyd stepped down from the platform the bell was on as Abra locked another of the teens in a shell of electricity. Kyd glazed out over the group of them and shook his head slightly. He didn't understand Abra's love of tormenting people. An arrow came lashing out at Kyd and he quickly teleported out of the way. He reappeared behind the blonde and blasted her with dark energy. She hit the ground hard and Abra quickly locked her up.

The only one left was the green girl and she went down easy. They were all trapped and Abra smirked before raising his wand. Kyd however noticed the giant Ankh appear behind Abra Kadabra and his eyes widened. If Nabu had been unleashed only Klarion had a chance at defeating him. And Klarion had been there to stop Nelson in the first place.

The black haired boy quickly got up in front of Abra and punched him in the face. Kyd took several quick steps back as the teens turned. He would be willing to face them if it weren't for the very obvious fact that Dr. Fate had been unleashed and Kyd's own Master was nowhere to be found. Klarion had left him behind. Kyd pushed back the feeling of betrayal and quickly unleashed a stream of black fire but it hit a shield made of an Ankh of light.

Kyd felt himself suddenly jerk into the air and go flying to the side where he slammed into a staircase. He didn't even have a chance to fall back to the ground before a fist slammed hard into his stomach, making him bend almost in half. Everything went pitch black as pain swamped his senses.


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: **I had a bit of a debate with myself over where I wanted Kyd to live but I finally settled for the city I know the most about. (I am such a fangirl... seriously)

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"Hey, Kyd."

_Nelson? _What was he doing in Kyd's mind? Or dream? Or whatever this blackness that was engulfing him was? Kyd looked around but couldn't spot the elderly man at all. It was disconcerting at the very least. The last thing Kyd remembered was hitting the ground after being hit in the stomach harder than he ever had before. Was he still unconscious? _Well, that would explain the darkness,_ he supposed.

"Ya know, Kyd, you really do have a bit of talent. Too bad Klarion got his claws on you first." Kyd could only stare at the nothingness in response to that. "But now you've got all that chaos magic in you to deal with. Pity. Doesn't help that Klarion decided to curse your voice away. You've got to learn to run without walking first."

Kyd frowned at the metaphor. It was true but that didn't mean Nelson had to point it out. Usually, to learn a spell, a sorcerer would use it vocally until they really understood it inside and out. Only once they knew all the quirks of the spell would they try casting it non-verbally. Kyd didn't have that ability to ease into his spells. He had to wield them as is, which tended to cause almost as much chaos and destruction as Klarion did intentionally. _How do you know that Master cursed my voice? _Kyd asked mentally. If this was his mind then Nelson should be able to pick up on his mental voice without a problem.

"I was Dr. Fate for years, Kyd. I know a curse when I see one."

_Why are you here? Haven't you ever heard of privacy?_

"Call it professional curiosity," Nelson replied from the nothingness. "To cast any spells without formal training is pretty impressive, Kyd. Especially without your voice. And you cast no less than three spells earlier. Your teleportation could definitely use work… so could your control, but I guess that's no surprise considering who's been mentoring you so far."

_So, what? You want to replace Master Klarion or something?_

"Not like it's much to replace," Nelson said dryly. "Klarion hasn't really taught you anything. And you know he doesn't really care much about you. He left you to get captured after the fight with Nabu. He just disappeared with that cat familiar of his and left you and Abra Kadabra to get sent to jail. Which, they've already sent word to, by the way."

Kyd frowned and looked off to the side though he had a feeling that wasn't very helpful considering in a mental plane like this Nelson could be everywhere and nowhere at the same time. "Don't pout, Kyd."

_I'm not pouting._

"Of course you're not," Nelson said with a chuckle. "Listen, Kyd, I can't make you listen to me, but I'd like to help you."

_I don't need help. _Kyd insisted, folding his arms over his chest stubbornly. He wasn't some idiot that couldn't figure anything out himself. No matter what Klarion said, he wasn't entirely inept.

Kyd got the distinct expression that Nelson was somewhat exasperated. "Alright, Kyd. I'm not going to argue with you. But know I'll be popping in front time to time if you change your mind. I would like to help you with my spare time. Me and Nabu don't have much to do here in the helmet until someone puts it on."

_My mind isn't changing._

"Alright, alright. Don't get all defensive. You should probably try and wake up, though. Last thing you want is to be brought into jail unconscious. You definitely won't be finding the best people where you're going. I wouldn't trust 'em."

That comment caused Kyd Wykkyd to jerk awake instantly. He found he was no longer in the tower but sitting on the ground in the apparently empty lot that the tower inhabited. His hands were tied in front of him, his feet were tied at his ankles, and several coils of rope were tight around his torso, which was seriously aching from the punch he'd gotten earlier. He could feel Abra Kadabra at his back, probably equally bound. "The second one's awake," someone said from off to the side.

Kyd looked over to see the blonde girl was standing there with the black haired boy that looked entirely too muscle bound. Kyd blinked in confusion that the girl could tell until he realized his mask had been removed. His eyes widened in surprise before quickly narrowing again in annoyance. He realized he should have known they'd unmask him but he still wasn't happy about it.

The other members of the teenage group were standing nearby and came over at the blonde's mention of Kyd being awake. "So, who're you anyway?" The redhead asked, leaning closer to where Kyd was tied up. Kyd noticed he had Fate's Helmet under one arm. "I've never seen you with Abra Kadabra before."

Kyd, of course, didn't answer verbally. He attempted a few simple hand signs but they didn't seem to notice. Not to mention he couldn't sign very well with his hands bound together like they were. They frowned at his apparent lack of response. "Okay, what about where that kid with the weird cat was heading?" the black haired boy asked a moment later.

"Yeah, he's the only one that got away. He's gotta have a hideout somewhere. Where is it?" the redhead asked before Kyd even had a chance to try and respond. Not that they apparently noticed that he was mute.

It was rather annoying to be unable to respond at all, though he probably wouldn't have given very helpful answers anyway. "He doesn't look like he's going to talk; maybe you should read his mind, Megan," the blonde girl said after a minute, turning to face the green girl. Kyd definitely didn't like the sound of that. Messing with someone's mind was always something to be wary of. Too much damage could be done far too easily with psionic abilities.

Kyd pulled at the ropes around him, testing how difficult they'd be to get out of. Luckily, the group seemed to be debating the pros and cons to letting the green one, Megan, read Kyd's mind and weren't paying terribly close attention. Kyd kept his face schooled to show nothing as he fought with the ropes. They weren't giving way though. One or more of these teens were apparently pretty good at tying knots. But, it was still just rope. There were other ways to get out of this situation that were still open to Kyd. Going to jail was not high on his list of things he wanted to do.

Going slowly, so that he wouldn't be noticed, Kyd shifted his hand to grab hold of one of the ropes around him. Summoning his black fire, Kyd started to burn through the ropes. They were just about burned clean through when the black haired boy's head suddenly whipped around. "Hey!"

Kyd reacted instantly, flaring his power to turn the remaining ropes to ash. The redheaded boy dashed forward, his hand grabbing hold of Kyd's cape, just as Kyd teleported. The fabric tore as Kyd teleported away. The mute had teleported without too much concern for where he ended up so he reappeared several feet away in the middle of the air. Unprepared for not being on the ground, he started to fall before he teleported again. The second time he was able to lock his eyes to a nearby rooftop and reappeared there.

He turned to see the teens pursuing him and quickly teleported again. Abra Kadabra was still on the ground with the blonde girl but Kyd Wykkyd didn't care. He hadn't liked the man anyway and he certainly wasn't worth the risk of getting caught again to help out. Besides, with the redhead running up the side of the building, the black haired boy jumping way too far, and the girl Megan closing in, there simply wasn't time. Kyd teleported as fast as he could over and over again to put as much distance between himself and them as was possible. But they were very fast. Just as fast as him, probably a bit more so, actually. The only thing that was keeping him ahead of them was the fact that they couldn't tell where he'd reappear for certain. They could only guess. "Come on, Dude! You're only making things harder on yourself!" the redhead yelled as he flung himself across a gap while barely breaking his stride.

Kyd continued to teleport as he scoured his brain for a spell that would help. Suddenly, he reappeared in front of the girl and came to a screeching stop. His eyes widened in surprise. How had she done that? The answer came to him as the other two caught up. She'd read his mind. His eyes narrowed and he unleashed the first spell that popped into his head. Black energy exploded outwards like a huge star, sending them all flying backwards with cries of pain and surprise. He wasted no time in gathering his energy and slamming it back down against the rooftop. A cloud of pitch black exploded outwards; hiding the entire roof from view. Only once he was hidden entirely did he again teleport. Though, this time he dug deep for a different kind of teleport that would take him much further.

There was a strange feeling of compression around him and the air practically screamed in protest but he disappeared from the rooftop. He reappeared a moment later in a dilapidated two room church in the middle of a less than middle class neighborhood. The building was slotted for being destroyed but that had been pushed back yet again so he knew he was still safe for a while yet. So long as no other gangs or villains decide that his makeshift hideout was more desirable than his he would stay safe for a while yet. Luckily, there was nothing that would make the church terribly interesting to any of the other groups that would need a hideout. It wasn't even in a particularly convenient place, which was the entire point for Kyd. He didn't want to be easy to find. There was only one person who knew about the church and that was his Master Klarion. Not that Klarion ever came around but still.

Kyd made his way to the back room of the church as he pulled his cowl and ripped cloak off. He dropped the parts of the costume on his bed as he passed by to go to the heavy desk that he used as his chest of drawers. There were several dozens of candles on the top of it and he quickly lit them before the few others that were scattered around for light. Once the room was as lit as it was going to be from the candles, Kyd pulled his grey top off and glanced down at himself. He frowned at the dark bruise that covered his abdomen. He hoped there was no serious damage there. It did still ache but it could be that it was just a deep muscle bruise.

He touched the skin at the edge of the bruise experimentally and was glad that it didn't feel too terrible. It hurt, of course, but he could deal with the amount of pain it was causing. With a sigh, Kyd fell back against his bed and stared up at the sky. He could just see a few slivers of it through the boarded up window above his bed. At least it was a clear night. He really rather not have to deal with the hundreds of leaks that came through the ceiling when it rained.

A dark figure zipped across the sky and Kyd shook his head before rolling over. Luckily, he'd managed to keep his head down enough to not be noticed by any 'heroes'. _With the exception of this time_, he supposed. Still, those teens weren't the heroes he'd always taken care to avoid. The green girl was clearly not human and the redhead was clearly a speedster. But both were too young to be the heroes that were constantly on the news. Kyd narrowed his eyes as he thought.

The black one with the blonde hair. He'd seemed fairly familiar for some reason. It took a few moments to place him, but Kyd eventually did. He mentally cursed as he recalled that the boy looked exactly like Aqualad. Aquaman's little sidekick. And if he was Aqualad that meant that the speedster was most likely Kid Flash. Kyd wasn't familiar with the two girls but if they were hanging around with Aqualad and Kid Flash there was a painfully high chance they had connections to other heroes. The Martian Manhunter came to mind instantly for the green girl. Kyd had no idea who could be tied to the blonde though. The only blonde female he'd made a point to avoid so far had been Black Canary but the teenager hadn't shown off any high pitched screeching. Then there was the black haired boy. The bright red S symbol on his shirt had narrowed him down to just one possibility. Superman would definitely be one of the worst to somehow run across. Kyd was glad he'd run into what seemed like a less potent version.

Kyd supposed it didn't much matter though. He would make a point of not crossing paths with those teens again. It was for the best. Especially since they'd gone and looked under his mask. Luckily, he didn't think he was in too much danger of being found out. As far as he knew, none of the heroes that were currently tied (albeit second-handedly) to him were in this particular city. Kyd rolled over and glanced out of the window again.

There was a familiar light in the sky and Kyd could hear sirens in the distance.

Now, if _Robin_ had been with them. That would have been a _real_ problem.

Gotham's teenage crime fighter would have a chance of seeing Kyd on the street and recognizing him. None of the others would since The Bat didn't let any other heroes into the city unless it was the rare instance where they were chasing their own villains. As long as Kyd didn't do anything stupid and obeyed the laws in Gotham, he was as near to untouchable as was possible to get without being lucky like Count Vertigo and having Diplomatic Immunity.

True, if the Dynamic Duo did figure out who he worked for, he was dead meat but he would do his utmost best to ensure that they _didn't_ find that out. He was no Joker who didn't care about self-preservation. Nor was he the Cluemaster who thought nobody was smarter than he was. And he definitely wasn't the Riddler who would leave puzzles all over the place and downright dare the best detective in the world to figure it out. No. Kyd was far more sensible than any of that. He had no desire whatsoever to go to Arkham. No matter how well padded the rooms were. He was perfectly content to live in obscurity.

Kyd Wykkyd stared up at the Bat Signal in the sky and idly wondered who was causing problems tonight. If it was serious enough for the Bat Signal to be turned on it was probably one of the big baddies in the city. That didn't really narrow it down though…

Kyd was fairly certain that the Penguin, Two Face, Riddler, and Joker were all already out of custody but that didn't mean that the signal wasn't on because someone like Clayface or Mr. Freeze didn't break out of Arkham. Or even if someone new decided to pop up that the GCPD couldn't handle. Kyd shook his head and turned his attention to something more worthy of his time. He reached over towards the crate that served as his side table but was brought up short by the pain in his side. He winced and shifted so that he wasn't stretching as far. It was going to be a pain to remember he couldn't just stretch out until his bruise healed.

He grabbed a nearby book and propped it open in his lap. His studies were pretty much never ending but he was sure that it would be worth it to learn what he could. Maybe he could undo the curse on his voice himself if he learned enough. It wasn't as if he didn't have the time to study. Klarion probably wouldn't be coming to see if he managed to escape for a couple of weeks at least. Possibly even longer if he didn't have any need for a barely trained sorcerer for a while; which, considering Klarion could do most anything on his own because he was so powerful, was a distinct possibility. Kyd ran a hand through his dark hair before pushing those thoughts out of his head to focus on the book in front of him.

A siren screamed down the street, jarring Kyd's concentration. It was followed by the sound of rapid fire from a semi or full automatic something or other. Kyd scowled at the nearby window. Maybe he should move to Bludhaven…


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: **Yay updates!

* * *

Kyd held his side as he made his way down the street. The slight ache from a few hours ago had evolved into mind jarring pain that made it hard to even stand up. He was sweating bullets and his bruise had gone from nasty looking to downright scary. It had grown darker and darker and spread in size substantially. He felt like he was going to throw up from the pain it took to stagger out of the church and down the street. Though he hated to go to a hospital, due to how he'd gotten hurt, the amount of pain he was in was not something he could ignore.

His vision was swimming in front of him and despite what he wanted; he couldn't keep to a straight line. It certainly didn't help that the closest hospital was Gotham General, which wasn't close at all. His whole midsection and lower back were throbbing but he pushed that out of his head as much as he could. He focused on a spot further down the street and performed a clumsy teleport. It was stupid; he was dressed as a normal kid. But he knew he couldn't afford to go slow either. Unfortunately, when he reappeared he hit his knees hard. Kyd groaned and struggled to not fall over completely. He would never manage to get back up if he lay down.

Struggling back to his feet, Kyd swallowed hard to fight against the bile rising in his throat. This was just horrible. He staggered to the side and knocked over a trashcan. He winced at the noise as well as the person who called out to him. He must have attracted some bum's attention from further down the alley. They usually didn't like it when someone messed with their 'stuff' though it was all trash.

He could see the giant lit up sign for Gotham General up ahead but he knew from experience it was still several blocks off. Kyd grit his teeth and took a few more steps before he had to pause to gasp for air. He would never make it at this rate. He felt ready to pass out any moment.

Kyd managed a few more steps before he noticed the darkness crowding in around his vision. He mentally cursed and leaned heavily against a brick wall that had the Bat Signal crudely spray painted across it. Someone else had then crossed the symbol out, only for the cross out to be covered itself with another bat sign in a different color. Kyd tried to force himself to take another step but he stumbled. He fell to the ground, just getting his hand out in front of him in time to break his fall. "Hey, kid! You okay?" someone called.

Kyd raised his head and looked to the side to see a blue uniformed shape coming closer. He struggled to try and get to his feet but another wave of pain made sure he didn't get up. The blackness swept up around his vision and the last thing Kyd was aware of was hitting the ground hard.

The black of unconsciousness was all he knew for a while until a familiar voice chimed in. "Hm, probably shouldn't have run, Kyd. They'd have been able to treat you a lot faster if you hadn't escaped."

Kyd blinked in surprise before looking around at the darkness. _Nelson? Why are you bothering me this time? _

"Bothering is such a strong word," Nelson replied. "Think of it as checking in on. When I heard you escaped well, I wanted to be sure you were alright."

_How did you hear I escaped? I thought you were trapped in that helmet with Nabu?_

"Just because we don't have bodies doesn't mean we don't know anything about what's going on. Especially when it comes to the magical world. And you're definitely part of that world, Kyd. We just kept an ear to the ground for you."

_We?_

"Of course, I've got company in this thing after all. I told Nabu about you. We don't have much better to do than talk, you know. And he was curious. Don't worry though, I figured you would like him in your head even less than me so I made him promise not to come in here," Nelson supplied. "He is interested in you though, Kyd. He wonders what someone like Klarion could be up to taking on an apprentice. It's not his usual style you know."

_So, I'm a magical curiosity now. Good to know, I guess, _Kyd thought sourly. He didn't exactly enjoy being a spectacle. Especially not to disembodied magical beings and old men.

"Oh, don't get so uppity, Kyd. It's not always a bad thing to attract attention."

_It is where I'm from, _Kyd replied simply. _Now, if you don't mind, I'm pretty sure I'm dying. I'd like to do it in peace._

"Don't be melodramatic. You're not dying. Your spleen just ruptured," Nelson said offhandedly.

If Kyd had eyes in his mind they would have widened. _Ruptured? Don't say that like it's nothing!_

"It is nothing. Not like that's a vital organ or anything. You'll be fine. They're removing it now and you're young enough to recover without a problem. Just relax. You're making your heart rate skyrocket," Nelson counseled. "By the time you wake up you'll be sore and tired but just fine. Trust me on that."

_I don't see why I should, _Kyd said, folding his arms over his chest. He was far from happy about this. If it wasn't for those hero kids he wouldn't even be in this mess. They'd hit him so hard to rupture one of his organs for goodness sakes!

"I don't have any reason to lie to you, Kyd," Nelson replied. "Though, when you wake up you'll probably have to answer some questions, you know."

Kyd's non-existent eyes widened again. He hadn't yet thought about that part. What on earth was he going to say about this? It would probably be safest to say he was mugged. That happened all the time and they had no way of finding out anything different. It was a lame excuse though. One that everyone in Gotham used when they didn't want to answer truthfully. He'd probably be seen straight through. Maybe he should just recover and then teleport the hell out? It probably wouldn't be that hard. They had no reason to think he'd done anything wrong. Not yet at least.

"Don't go and freak out, Kyd. Remember they're still operating on you," Nelson said. "You know you could just tell them the truth."

Kyd scoffed. _Oh yes, that's genius. Let me just go and tell everyone that I'm training under a supervillain and Lord of Chaos. I'm sure that will go over very well. Especially when I tell them I got punched by a hero's brat and that's why my spleen ruptured. If they don't lock me up in Arkham they'll put me in jail._

"Alright, alright. No need for sarcasm. And really, you don't have to be training under Klarion. You can find a better teacher than him," Nelson reasoned.

_Oh, yeah? Who? The disembodied dead man?_

Nelson made a thoughtful noise. "Eeh, probably not me. But I'm sure Nabu could teach you a thing or two."

Kyd recoiled from that idea instantly. _Hell no._

Nelson sighed but didn't seem surprised. "Well, can't blame an old man for trying can you?"

_It's my mind. I'll blame who I want, _Kyd replied with no small bit of annoyance. _You don't like it… get out already. You weren't invited anyway._

"Fine, fine. It looks like the anesthesia is about to wear off anyway, but keep my offer in mind, Kyd. It's not so bad on this side of things. You might actually like it if you gave it a chance."

_I doubt it, _Kyd replied before the darkness started to lighten around him. He heard Nelson say something else but he couldn't make out the words as he slowly realized he was lying in a bed surrounded by several machines. He opened his eyes and saw he was in a hospital and the machines were all hooked up to him through various means. His middle had been wrapped in several layers of bandages but he wasn't sore at the moment. He wasn't feeling much of anything, which was nice. He followed the IV from his arm to the bag with his eyes and realized he must still have some sort of pain killer in his system. He was infinitely grateful for it.

The pain he had been feeling before he passed out had been horrible and he wasn't in a hurry to feel that amount of pain again. Kyd turned his attention to the ceiling tiles above him. He would wait until he fled. It was probably not smart to go teleporting and running after just come out of surgery. And who knew, maybe they would actually buy that he'd been mugged. Though then they'd probably start asking where he lived and that opened up an all new host of problems. He was not terribly enthused with the idea of going into foster care. Not that he couldn't just run away but still; the fewer systems he was in and were trying to keep tabs on him the happier he would be.


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: **This story is quickly growing out of hand ._O as per usual for my stories. More characters (Original ones and tweaked versions of cannon ones) keep deciding they want to chime in. So what I think I'm going to do is end this story and keep it as a short story precursor to a story more focused on this group that is forming in my head. But don't worry, if I do that I'll find a nice bow to tie it all up in and while I wont answer all the questions of Kyd Wykkyd here more of those questions will be answered in the fic I'm planning to follow up with. It'll be a few chapters yet before I can tie everything up in some semblance of order so you don't have to worry about this being the last chapter. Not yet ;)

* * *

"There's no sign of who he is," someone said near where Kyd was laying on the surprisingly comfortable bed. "It's lucky you found and brought him in when you did. With that much internal bleeding he would have surely died."

Kyd lay still on the bed and simply listened. He'd fallen asleep at some point and now that he was awake again he felt a bit better for it. Less tired and drained than he had at first. However, there was now the problem of the people in the room. "How did he rupture his spleen in the first place?" a smooth baritone voice asked, Kyd assumed, the doctor.

"Some sort of blunt force trauma is most likely. A punch or a kick. We see it in muggings sometimes. It might account for why he has no wallet or ID on him. But he should recover just fine, don't worry."

The injured boy heard movement and the sound of a door opening and closing. He waited for several minutes before opening his eyes and looking around. He hadn't taken very careful stock of the room before since he had been on some sort of drugs and very tired.

On the far side of the room there was a rather small window with a set of vertical blinds over it. The blinds had been pulled though, which meant that Kyd could see it was day. Kyd frowned, that would make it much harder to slip out of the hospital unnoticed. There was a large curtain across the other side of the room, blocking Kyd's view.

There was someone else in the room but behind the curtain so Kyd couldn't see who it was. It was the beeping sound, different than the ones coming from Kyd's own monitors, which let him know that someone was there. Kyd had to leave the hospital. The longer he was here the more chance he had that they would begin to question who he was. Questions that he couldn't answer. Master Klarion hadn't left him in the easiest of situations. Klarion hadn't exactly cared about being able to come up with viable cover stories when he snatched Kyd up several years ago and began to 'train' him.

Kyd had been left without a home, any sort of place to go, friends, family, and now not even the capacity to tell anyone or make excuses. Kyd would just have to take comfort in the fact that none of his friends had been taken as well. They would have been as miserable here as he was. Kyd shook his head and turned his attention to deciding how to best escape without arousing suspicions. He could teleport out but that would set off the monitors and the doctors would come rushing in. He'd have to find a way to delay them finding out that he was gone.

Kyd bit his lip and thought on the problem for a moment. He knew there were spells to replace bodies with clones so believable they even had pulses and what not. But he didn't know those spells. They were far too complex and even if he could come up with it he wouldn't be able to cast it without his voice. It wasn't something his mental spell casting could achieve. He was somewhat screwed if he couldn't figure out a way to get out of the hospital, preferably without arousing suspicions. If Klarion were around he'd just brute force his way out with magic. He didn't have to worry about remaining undetected. Kyd however did.

As he was thinking on the problem, a shrill voice slammed into his head painfully. _Where are you!?_

Kyd put a hand to his temple and bit his lip before attempting to focus enough to respond to the demanding question. _The hospital… my spleen ruptured._

_Well, get out! We have work to do!_

Kyd winced again and rubbed his temple. Though Klarion didn't often communicate with Kyd this way he found it was always intensely painful when he did. Klarion had more power and training than anything Kyd could conceive of having but that only meant he was intentionally making the communication painful. _Work like what, Master?_

_You'll find out when you get here! NOW!_

Kyd sighed and sent his mental agreement. It looked like he wouldn't be worrying about escaping undetected after all. He quickly ripped the different needles and monitors off his body, causing the machines around him to scream in warning. Kyd ignored the alarms going off and the sounds of people running down the hall. He got up and dashed to the window though it was hell to do with his middle in bandages.

Kyd looked out of the window and spotted a roof down below. He focused and teleported just as he heard the curtain beside him being ripped open. He mentally cursed but didn't have time to worry about it. He teleported again as soon as his feet hit the ground. He didn't have time to hang around. That was sure to get him caught by someone.

As Kyd teleported and ran his way across town back towards his hideout, he heard sirens racing along the streets around him. He cursed and made certain to keep to the roof tops where he was marginally safer. Marginally because the roof tops were the Bat and Bird's territory and the only saving grace Kyd had was that it was daytime and not prime prowling time. He still decided to haul ass as much as he could though.

Thankfully, nothing tall, dark, and cowled came to interrupt him, so Kyd managed to get to the church without too much trouble. He was somewhat annoyed at the situation but he didn't want to feel Klarion's temper so he decided to not waste any time. He quickly pulled his bodysuit and cape back on before hiding his face behind the near featureless mask and cowl. His master hadn't really told him where exactly they were supposed to meet but Kyd could use a few processes of elimination to figure out what was most likely.

It had to be somewhere with a lot of magic, preferably of the darker variety. It had to be large enough to not completely collapse if Klarion got into one of his moods. And it was probably terribly inconvenient for Kyd to try and get into. It took a moment but then Kyd recalled the bar in Metropolis Chinatown. That would fit perfectly and lots of darker spell casters and magical item collectors tended to hang out there. If nothing else, maybe someone had seen Kyd's Master. Kyd sighed some behind his mask and teleported off. It would take a little bit of doing to get to that particular bar. But Kyd had sneaked into it before and he'd manage it again.

An hour later, Kyd was slipping into an upper story office above the club. The bouncers had, yet again, attempted to kill him so he'd decided that the best way in was the indirect way. Kyd closed the window behind him and stepped out into the hall. He could hear music throbbing through the whole building and the air was buzzing with magical energy. Kyd took a moment to close his eyes and focus. He could definitely feel the discord of several chaotic magical sources around but that didn't necessarily mean Klarion was nearby. It could have been practically anyone.

Kyd made his way down the hall and stopped at the landing that looked out over the flashing dance floor. Young hopefuls and other idiots danced around as though they were somehow impressing the mages that were drinking at secluded tables and booths. In reality, the mages couldn't care less about them but Kyd wasn't about to correct them. They wouldn't have listened even if they did take the time to try and decipher what he was trying to say. Kyd teleported to the entrance of the main room with a flicker of shadows.

A few people nearby gave him a curious glance but when their eyes found the symbol on his cape buckle they quickly turned away. Kyd spared them a quick glance and walked forward towards the more secluded area of the bar. He took a long moment to slowly look over the room but his search was interrupted when a familiar figure stepped in front of him. "Ahh, it has been so long since we last saw each other, Wykkyd. Lord Klarion should bring you by more often."

Kyd scowled behind his mask. He held up his hand and black fire spouted from his palm to form a writhing molten fireball. "My, my, so rude to an old friend."

"Brother Blood. Must you always annoy Kyd?" another voice called from a full table.

"I am just being friendly, Faust," came Blood's offhanded reply though he didn't look away from Kyd. A small smile pulled at his mouth and the deliberately sculpted mustache but it didn't quite reach his eyes. "It is Wykkyd who is being unfriendly."

"You know he doesn't like you," another voice commented.

Blood's smile didn't falter though something in his eyes changed to seem more menacing. "He should like me," he said causally before turning and walking back to the table he'd come from. Kyd watched his back and contemplated throwing the fireball in his hands at the bastard. Burn a nice hole right in the middle of his torso. With some effort, Kyd closed his hand and put out the fire. He didn't have time to get into fights with someone like Brother Blood. Instead, Kyd forced his attention to looking around some more.

"If you're looking for Klarion, he just left," Faust said from his seat.

Kyd scowled and glared at one of the outside walls. Of course he had. Kyd's lack of amusement wasn't lost on the mages. The teen had been mute practically ever since they'd known him so they had no trouble reading his moods, though his rarely changed much. Especially compared to Klarion's moods. When they did, however, they had the potential to be far more volatile than even his Master's. "He went to Gotham," Brother Blood supplied quickly. "Something about a tree that Poison Ivy is growing."

Several glasses and lights exploded violently, sending molten glass flying across the room and causing people to duck or shield themselves. The carpet under Kyd's feet turned black and smoldered as Kyd mentally ranted and raged. He had just come from Gotham! Klarion knew that! He could have just had Kyd meet him wherever Ivy was hiding! Instead he'd just assumed that Kyd would know where he was going! It was absolutely infuriating!

The carpet caught fire and the sprinkler system instantly turned on to try and put it out, soaking through everything in a matter of minutes. Many of the hopefuls or less impressive magic users fled as the freezing cold water showered down. "Kyd… you're watering down my drink…" Faust said holding up the glass that was steadily filling back up and becoming a fainter color of blue. "If you're angry go take it up with Klarion."

Kyd glared at the man even as the featureless mask he wore began to crack over the bottom. With some difficulty, Kyd forced his rage back and turned on his heel. As he stormed out, several other things caught fire or exploded. A vending machine even melted, spewing burning treats across the floor. Kyd didn't even wait to get to the front of the bar. He reached a large enough area and concentrated. The air screamed and black energy swarmed around him. With a noise like a thunderclap, Kyd teleported to his home though he was still in an incredibly foul mood.

It took all of a second to figure out where Ivy would be. The botanical gardens routinely hosted her whether invited or not. Kyd normally would have thought twice about storming into the greenhouse, setting some of Ivy's precious plants a flame as he did, but his rage was overriding his common sense. When he got mad chaos happened, which only ever snowballed outwards.

"My babies!" Ivy shrieked before lashing out.

Kyd disappeared as the heavy limb took a swipe at him and reappeared in front of his Master who was standing there beside Ivy. "Took you long enough!" Klarion snapped in his typical nasally voice.

"How dare you burn my babies!" Ivy yelled as she took another swipe at him. Kyd caught her arm and flung her arm off to the side. She needed to get over it. Not like she couldn't just grow more of the damn things!

"Now, now," a smooth voice interrupted before they could get to fighting further. "We shouldn't fight among ourselves."

Kyd turned to see Lex Luthor come in from a side room. "We have far too much to get done. But if you would be so kind as to put out the fires you started, Kyd?" he asked gesturing to the smoldering plants. Kyd begrudgingly waved a hand and dismissed the black flames. "Very good. Now, we should get started."

"We can't get started!" Ivy hissed, still clearly in a bad mood. "My baby still needs time to grow and Joker hasn't brought his end of the bargain yet."

Lex frowned some at that. "Well, I suppose we'll just have to buy ourselves some more time…"

"And just how are we supposed to do that?" Ivy asked in annoyance.

"Ooh ooh ooh!" Klarion said excitedly. "I have an idea…" he said turning to look at Kyd. Kyd didn't like the sound of Klarion's voice at all and had a feeling he was going to be forced to do something he didn't particularly enjoy doing.


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: **I went through several different variations of what the 'plan' was before I settled on this one. I had a far more humorous one in mind first involving genderswapping madness but I settled for something more sinister. Perhaps I can use the first incarnation of this to make a oneshot or something in the future.

* * *

| **New Jersey**

| **September 8, 23:03 EDT**

Kyd was soon dispatched to 'cause a distraction' for the heroes and their little sidekicks who seemed to have formed some sort of team of Junior Justice Leaguers. Kyd was only slightly more annoyed than normal when he realized that so long as he distracted them long enough to move Ivy's pet tree they really didn't care if he was caught or not. And, since most of the big baddies were going to be busy setting up their plan and not helping Kyd, capture seemed inevitable.

It didn't help that Klarion had given him specific instructions. Kyd didn't like this plan. Not even a little. Sure, it would distract a good deal of the heroes. Possibly even all if things got really messy. And it would cause the chaos that Klarion so enjoyed. But, well, Kyd was certain that he was only informed of half the plan. Either that or Klarion's sense of humor was even more twisted than he originally thought because this 'plan' was downright ludicrous. Kyd fingered the amulet in his hand as he watched the oddly shaped ship land behind an abandoned warehouse. It wouldn't be long before the Junior heroes showed up to investigate where Kyd was waiting, as he had been ordered to.

But getting them here was the easy part. Dropping a few hints so that the heroes would send their greatest soft spots out into the open had barely taken Luthor any time at all to do. Kyd had already set up half of the spell he just needed the teenagers that were now headed his way. Kyd sighed and dismissed the summoned orb he'd been peering through. He was not looking forward to fighting all these super powered sidekicks at once.

It was just lucky he could summon fire. That would take care of two of the teenagers. Two others didn't have powers so hopefully if he was smart about it he'd be able to handle them. That left the kryptonian and the speedster. Kyd had planned out something for Superboy with Luthor's help. A couple red sun lamps. Kid Flash, well, he might be tricky as Kyd really had nothing specific planned to take out a speedster.

Kyd supposed that even if he only partially succeeded in this foolhardy plan that it would still serve as distraction and thus he'd accomplish his mission. And go to jail. That would probably happen too. Kyd sighed again and waved his hands over himself. His form shimmered slightly before disappearing from sight. He would need to stay invisible as long as possible, especially since he had a feeling the other teens would be doing the same. Though Kyd's invisibility wasn't as easy to maintain or reliable as some of the other heroes or villains that could do it, it was one of the few abilities he had that he hadn't had to 'fix' after he'd been rendered mute. Klarion had truly dealt him a blow and he still couldn't summon things properly like he used to. Kyd truly hoped that his master reversed the curse soon. He was getting very tired of being crippled magically.

Kyd moved to the roof of the warehouse he had set up as his workshop for this spell and carefully scanned the surrounding area for any sign of the intruders he knew were there. Picking them off one by one seemed the best way to go about doing things but to do that he'd have to actually spot one.

A moment later, Kyd noticed the blonde girl clad in green and carrying a bow kneel down on a nearby rooftop. A lookout then? Well, that meant she was on her own. Kyd just found the first one he was going to deal with.

He took his time to climb up the nearby fire escape instead of teleporting. He wanted to conserve his energy since he still had several superpowers to deal with. Kyd noticed that they weren't communicating through radios. He was a bit worried about that. If that wasn't how they were keeping in touch… how were they doing it?

Kyd shook his head slightly and sneaked up behind the blonde archer. Now that he saw her in her outfit he could easily guess which hero would claim her. Green Arrow. Not one that Kyd was terribly concerned over. He would be more frightened of Black Canary.

The blonde had her bow strung and ready even as her eyes flit around the warehouse and the grounds around it. Kyd glanced around himself and didn't see any sign of her teammates so he pulled his leg back and then kicked forward as hard as he could. The blonde cried out as his foot connected with her temple and she hit the ground hard but she didn't so much as open her eyes where she was laying. Kyd winced, having hoped she'd go down without making noise but he couldn't have everything.

Kyd made sure he was still invisible even as he bent down to check on the girl he didn't want her seriously injured. Just knocked out. Sometimes interacting with things made the spell fail and kicking a girl in the head was sure to be considered interacting.

There was a familiar woosh sound and Kyd jumped back to hover in the air as Kid Flash ran up the side of the building to stop by the archer's side. "Arty? Artemis," he hissed as he shook her gently.

Kyd narrowed his eyes. They had to be in contact somehow. There was no other way for someone to have come here so soon after he'd kicked Artemis in the head. They'd known that they were under attack. That made things more difficult. Infinitely more difficult. Kyd didn't have time to worry about that though as the young speedster whipped around and started looking in the air.

Why was he looking in the air? There should be no reason for him to do that! Not unless…

Kyd blanched when he realized that the redhead _did _know that Kyd was in the air. Probably due to the Martian, which meant she was nearby. Hopefully, she didn't know exactly where he was but the fact that she knew even a little bit was not good. He'd been counting on catching her by surprise. Kyd looked around but didn't see the green-skinned girl. That's right. Martians could disappear too. And better than Kyd could.

Suddenly, pain slammed into Kyd's senses and if he could he would have screamed as he fell the few feet of air to land on the top of the roof. He clutched his temples through his cowl as he struggled to find some barrier between him and the pain. His eyes widened as he felt his senses begin to overload.

He heard other screaming that wasn't his own even as darkness swept over his vision. The excruciating pain started to fade after a moment, only to be replaced by cold fear.

Kyd opened his eyes, trembling slightly though he wasn't sure why he was so terrified all of a sudden. The ground beneath him shifted to one side and then the other, rolling gently in a motion he was terribly familiar with. Kyd's eyes widened even more and his lungs seemed to cramp as quick breaths of terror failed to fill them fully.

Suddenly, a pair of hands grabbed him roughly by his shirt and jerked him forward in a rough but brief shake. Kyd's grey eyes snapped open and he was met with a pair of furious blue eyes. "What did you do?"

Kyd shook his head quickly. He hadn't done anything! He wasn't supposed to be here! Not anymore!

"Superboy!" Several sets of hands quickly pried the two boys apart and Kyd fell to the ground in a sprawl of limbs. It was only then he realized that he wasn't in his usual garb. All he had on was a pair of thin pajama pants and a t-shirt. It was dark all around but the slow buckling of the ground was very telling. At least it was to Kyd who knew far too well what it felt like to be on a boat in the dark. But it was impossible. This place was gone. Destroyed and never to be thought of again. He'd done everything he could to not think of this place again.

"I don't think he's doing this," Miss. Martian said as she looked around at the pervasive blackness. It was almost like ink in water, moving just slightly to be disconcerting but not giving any indication of what might be lurking with in. "Something's hacked our link but it's not coming from him."

"So how do we get out?" Robin asked even as he lifted his gauntlet. He frowned only a moment later. His equipment said none of them had moved at all. That meant that either his equipment was malfunctioning or they really were in the psychic plane where he wasn't going to be able to just computer magic their way out.

"And where's Artemis?" Kid Flash demanded as he looked around for blonde archer.

The Martian shook her head some those weren't exactly easy questions to answer. "Artemis was already separated from the link by being knocked out. I'll try to separate us but it'll take some time." As her eyes began to glow the boys turned their attention to Kyd who was still sprawled across the gently rocking ground.

"So where are we?" Kid Flash demanded. "You know right?"

Kyd nodded slightly but didn't answer more than that. In the darkness, he could hear the creaking of heavy objects shifting in time with the rocking beneath them. He eyes drifted to look at the darkness even as he swallowed hard and tried to shift away from it. It was everywhere though. He couldn't escape so easily. Superboy growled and picked Kyd up by the shirt again. He had limited patience to begin with and even less when he didn't know what was going on. "Where are we?" he demanded, giving the slighter boy a bit of a shake.

Kyd's lip trembled some as he forced his eyes back to the short-tempered clone. "… hell," he whispered. "We're in hell."


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: **Some insight into Kyd Wykkyd...

* * *

"Man, this place is starting to creep me out," Kid Flash said as he walked around the very dim area. "Where are we anyway? This cannot possibly be hell…" he added, glaring some at Kyd Wykkyd where he was sitting on the ground.

"But it is…" Kyd muttered into his knees. He didn't know why his Master had sent him back here but he didn't like it. He hadn't done anything to deserve this. He'd only done his best to follow orders. He was supposed to distract them and he had been doing that. Why was he here? It didn't make sense! The ground violently rocked and several of the teenage heroes scrambled to keep their footing.

"I believe we are on a boat," Aqualad said after Kid Flash had managed to regain his footing. "The motion and sounds are very distinctive. Why it is so dark, however, I cannot begin to say…"

There were several minutes of silence before Kid Flash seemed to think of something. "Maybe it's night?"

"No, there's not even anything here. It's just a whole lot of darkness, some noises, and an unsteady floor," Robin pointed out.

"We're in his mind," Miss. Martian supplied quietly, glancing over at Kyd Wykkyd. "I can't break us out of here though. Something's keeping us all trapped. Even him." The superhero teens looked over at their enemy. Kyd was curled up a little ways away, paying them no attention whatsoever. His knees were brought up to his face and he had wrapped his arms around his legs tightly. He looked utterly lost and more than a little terrified. It only took one look at him to know that he had no intention of this happening at all. He wasn't the one in control here. Someone else was just working through him.

Conner frowned and folded his arms over his chest. He really hated messing around in people's minds and people messing around with his. Suddenly, Conner noticed something and he gave Robin, who was closest a slight nudge. Robin looked up at the taller boy curiously. "He look smaller to you?" Conner asked softly.

Robin blinked and looked back at the curled up figure. "Yeah… he does," Robin agreed after a few mental notes. The shirt Kyd was wearing was a bit bigger than it had been and the pajamas came further down his legs than they had before. He was… shrinking? Not very fast, but he was definitely changing size.

"Perhaps if we ask him a more direct question, he will have a better answer to give us," Aqualad commented before crossing the distance and kneeling down beside Kyd. Large dove grey eyes fixed on him instantly and Aqualad attempted a smile. Their enemy now only looked to be about ten years old and was clearly frightened. Frightening him more didn't seem like a smart thing to do. "Do you know what boat we are on?"

Kyd shook his head slightly but didn't answer verbally. "Do you know why we're here?" Robin asked, picking up the same gentle tone that Aqualad had a moment before.

Kyd looked down at the ground and frowned. "Gran'pa's lonely… no," he said before shaking his head. "No, Master said to… do something," Kyd corrected harshly. "A distraction."

"Distraction from what?" Kid Flash asked, zipping over to Kyd's side in an instant.

Kyd's brow furrowed but he shook his head some. It was getting harder to not let his brain be entirely swamped with fear. It was clouding his mind. "He… He didn't tell me this would happen…" he murmured as he tried to remember what he'd been thinking before he'd been sent back to his own personal hell.

"Is there anything he did tell you?" Conner asked in annoyance.

Kyd's frown grew as he clearly strained to remember. "Master… wanted to keep you busy. You and the League. Needed time when you weren't looking-"

"Kid? Where are you?"

Kyd's face turned ashen and instantly his concentration was broken. His hands dug into his own legs as he searched the darkness for the source of the call. "What was that?" Kid Flash asked uneasily.

"Aren't you a little old for hide and seek?"

Kyd shrunk down into a smaller ball though the Team had thought for certain he couldn't compact himself any more than he already had. "Come now, Kid. I won't hurt you!" The disembodied voice called and Kyd flinched.

The Team exchanged a worried look. It was not exactly normal behavior that their suddenly fragile looking enemy was exhibiting. Robin glanced at the darkness where the voice had come from and then at Kyd. His face grew grim as he knelt down beside the boy. "What's your name?" he asked softly.

Kyd looked startled as he turned to Robin. "Christopher," he answered almost automatically.

Robin offered a smile and jerked his head to the side. "And his name?"

Christopher shook his head. "He said to call him Gran'pa…"

Robin scowled some at that. "But he's not is he?" Christopher shook his head.

"Robin? What is it?" Miss. Martian asked, clearly worried.

Robin gave Christopher a bit of a smile before getting up and walking a few steps away to address his team. "You said we're in his mind right, Miss M?" The Martian nodded in agreement. "Well, I'm guessing if this is his mind and he said this is Hell… then we're in the worst part of his mind."

"Like bad memories," Kid Flash said glancing around. "It doesn't seem that bad."

"I have a feeling we have not yet seen the worst of it, Kid," Aqualad said softly.

Robin shook his head. "I've seen kids acting like this before."

"You have?" Conner asked, eyebrow raised. "When?"

"In Gotham. A lot of people kidnap kids for ransom, bait, and… other things. A lot of them look like that. Christopher was kidnapped… and this is his memory of it. Whoever 'gran'pa' is… that's who did it. And who he's so afraid of," Robin supplied, glaring some at the distance. "I have a feeling he wasn't snatched up for anything good…"

"You think that's how he went all evil minion, Rob?" Kid Flash asked, glancing at Christopher for a moment.

Robin shrugged. "Maybe. Hard to say without knowing if he managed to get away or not."

"So, how are we supposed to get out of here?" Kid Flash asked. "I mean. If we're stuck in his bad memories… does that mean we can just change it to something better? Can you do that, babe?"

Miss Martian blinked in surprise. "I can try," she agreed before raising her hands to her temples.

"Don't!" a sudden, familiar, voice called out.

Miss Martian gasped and looked around. "Uncle J'onn?" The older Martian was nowhere to be seen but that didn't necessarily mean anything when they were in someone's mental landscape. "What are you doing here?"

"When Artemis was unable to awaken any of you she contacted us at the Watchtower," J'onn supplied. "We have moved all of you back to the cave so that we can try and bring you back to your own minds. Unfortunately, it has proven difficult to connect fully with my own powers. There is something interfering."

The teens exchanged a look. How long had they already been in here? If it had been long enough to for Artemis to wake up and then call the League it couldn't have been only a few moments like they'd thought. And then they'd already been moved all the way back to the cave? Had they really not been able to notice their bodies being moved like that?

"You mustn't attempt to alter the memory," J'onn warned mentally. "Not until we are certain how you came to be trapped within it. It may trigger a chain reaction and harm you all. It is not a risk we can take."

"Then how are we supposed to get out?" Conner demanded.

There were a few moments of silence. "Attempt to keep Kyd Wykkyd from being consumed by the memory," the Martian advised. "He is the catalyst. If he thinks of other things he may be able to break through. Or at the very least, give us more time to reverse what has been done on the outside."

"Right. Keep him in his happy place. Got it," Kid Flash said before zipping over to the boy. Christopher looked up at the redhead though he didn't move from his spot. "So, where are you from, kid?" Christopher simply blinked, not apparently comprehending the question fully or possibly he was simply confused by the speedster's power.

Slowly the blackness around them shifted and swirled until vague shapes took form within it. The teens felt the floor level out and they could just barely tell it was becoming rough asphalt. The blackness lightened ever so slightly to make out the form of skyscrapers around them against an even blacker sky. "It appears to be a city," Aqualad said as he studied the skyline.

"Yeah, but which city?" Conner asked as he folded his arms over his chest.

The Team studied the skyline carefully for any distinctive buildings but it was hard when the shapes were black on an even darker black. It took a few moments before Robin perked up some. "I know that one," he said pointing to one of the buildings opposite where Kyd Wykkyd was huddled on the ground. "It's the original Wayne Building in Gotham. You can just barely make out the sign though it's not lit."

"So this is one of your baddies, Rob?" Kid Flash asked glancing between his best friend and the boy.

Robin shook his head some. "I've never seen him causing trouble in Gotham before… if he is fro Gotham he might have never gotten back after the kidnapping." Suddenly, the world rocked to the side and the city faded into complete darkness again. The creaks of shifting decks around them were back as well. Robin grimaced some. "Guess I shouldn't have mentioned that again…"

"His home doesn't seem to be a much better memory than this one," Megan said as she hovered above the shifting floor. "We should find one that is more pleasant if we can."


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N:** Hello again. It's a bit shorter than my other chapters, I know. But I've given you so many clues in this one about my master plan. Muhahaha...ha ha... yeah. If anyone can pick out which Canon DC character I've hijacked and merged to make Kyd Wykkyd you get amazing brownie points. And possibly a nod in a later chapter. Fair warning though... it is a rather obscure character. (He was in Teen Titans comics though if that helps)

* * *

The team exchanged a few looks. "How are we supposed to find a better memory anyway?" Kid Flash finally asked after a few moments of silence.

"We'll just have to keep asking questions," Robin muttered. "Maybe Batman can find something we can use. I'm sure J'onn is giving him updates on what's going on. We know his name and he's from Gotham. His approximate age and the age he went missing looks to be about nine or ten. If Batman can find out who he is then we should be able to find something pleasant in his past. Nobody has nothing good about their past."

Megan nodded. "I'll ask Uncle J'onn to relay the information to Batman," she said as she raised her hands to her temples and her eyes started to glow.

"And until we get answers?" Conner asked unhappily. "Do we just wait."

"Perhaps we can get more information from him and even if we can't, we can still attempt to get Kyd Wykkyd to focus on other things," Aqualad said as he went back to Christopher and knelt down beside him. Christopher looked up at him instantly though he still didn't uncurl. "Do you know where your parents are, Christopher?"

Christopher frowned and looked at the black ground. "No. I don't remember them. It's been too long…"

Robin went over to where they were sitting while Superboy and Kid Flash continued to try and find a way out through the darkness. But no matter how fast Kid Flash ran he just couldn't get anywhere in the dark. He always ended up back in the small beam of light that they were currently standing in.

"Can you remember your last name?" Robin asked him gently.

Christopher shook his head. "Why are you asking so many questions?"

"I'm… kind of a detective," Robin answered hesitantly. He wasn't really known as one, that was mostly Batman's gig, but on this team that was a little more true.

"You're nosy," Christopher shot back.

Kid Flash snorted a bit but looked away quickly when a masked glare was leveled his way. "Are you saying you do not want to be able to get out of this place?" Aqualad asked, ignoring his other teammates.

Kyd Wykkyd looked around at the darkness uneasily and when he glanced back at Aqualad the Atlantian was very disturbed to see that the boy suddenly had a black eye and a cut lip. "Why would I want to stay in hell?" he asked softly.

"Than you need to tell us what you can," Aqualad said.

"The more we know the faster we can get out of here," Robin added. "Even if it's just little things you don't think are important."

"Yeah, we're trying to help you out. Not hurt you," Kid Flash chimed in. "I mean, you can't be here forever."

Suddenly, the Miss Martian perked up. "Hello, Megan! Why don't we just ask him how he got out before?" she asked before flying over to land beside Christopher. "Do you remember how you got out of here?" she asked. "Or where you were after you did?"

Christopher frowned and looked down at the ground. "How I got out?" he echoed in clear confusion.

"Yeah, you weren't on a boat when we first met you. You had to have gotten away somehow," Conner reasoned. "Or at least you left the boat."

"The boat… There was no boat," Kyd Wykkyd said as he looked up at them. "One minute it was there… then it wasn't." The team suddenly realized a sound was coming from the darkness; a roar-like noise that was quickly growing in strength. Heat swept across all of them followed by a massive bloom of fire and the deafening sound of destruction.

"Oh shit!"

Robin grabbed the boy by the shoulders and gave him a shake. "After this, Christopher! What happened after?" he demanded.

The world suddenly went white and the rapidly expanding fire simply faded away. "Whoa… not cool," Kid Flash said putting a hand to his chest. "I think I skipped a few beats…"

Robin sighed and sat back though he was surprised to feel something soft beneath him. He turned his eyes down and saw that he was sitting in grass all of a sudden. The Team looked around slowly. "I guess we found a better memory," Conner mused as he studied the flowers sprinkled throughout the emerald green grass.

"Yeah, this definitely looks like a happy place to me," Wally agreed as he glanced up at the strangely golden sky. Why wasn't it blue? That would have made more sense.

They were all standing or sitting in the middle of a large field. Off in the distance there was a cliff with a waterfall crashing down into a Caribbean blue bay. Several trees, many of them bearing fruit, were sprinkled throughout the landscape. Especially by the water.

A warm breeze drifted off of the water and Christopher slowly stood up to look around. "Where are we?" Robin asked him.

"Home," Christopher replied as he looked around at the picturesque landscape. Suddenly, his eyes went wide. "Keeper!" He turned on his heel and bolted.

"After him," Aqualad said even though they were all already moving to follow. If they lost him now who knew when they'd be able to break out of where they were.

They chased after Kyd Wykkyd as he sprinted through the field. They ran for quite a while until they could make out a building in the distance. It practically sparkled in the distance. It was several floors with a blindingly white roof and pale grey siding broken up with golden woodwork. In front of the house was a well that had a grey roof over top and was made from what looked like quartz.

The team caught up to him just as Kyd was bursting through the golden front door. "Keeper!" he shouted even as he ran into the cheerfully lit house. Kyd looked around for a moment, panting slightly from the exertion of running so far and fast. Nobody seemed to be home. Kyd sat down heavily on the white sofa. "He's not here…"

"Who are you looking for?" Aqualad asked.

"Keeper. He looked after me," Kyd murmured.

"Why did he do that?" Megan asked. "Did you know him before?"

Kyd shook his head and glanced around the room. "He made this home for me. Because it wasn't supposed to happen that way," he murmured. "I wasn't supposed to be here."

"Why not?" Robin asked.

Kyd shook his head even as his black eye healed in a matter of seconds. "I don't know. He just said I wasn't supposed to be there. That there had been a mistake and he was going to do his best to make it up to me. He gave me this place to stay and started to teach me magic…"

"So why isn't he still teaching you?" Megan asked.

"They took me away from him. They said he wasn't teaching me properly," Kyd said softly. "But I miss him. He's been the only one that's cared about me at all. He may not be the best but he's all I had."


End file.
